Northwestern professor experiences history first-hand

Dr. Roger Hardaway, professor of history at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, presented his research paper, “African American Policemen on the Western Frontier,” at an academic conference in Budapest, Hungary.

“Attending academic conferences like this one make me a better professor by exposing me to the research in which my colleagues all over the world are engaging,” said Hardaway when asked how these travel endeavors impact him as a professor. “In addition, visiting historic sites like those in Budapest gives me first-hand knowledge of some of the places and events that I discuss in my history classes. For example, the hotel in which I stayed, the Astoria, was the Hungarian headquarters for the Nazi Gestapo in World War II and for the Soviet invaders in 1956. The more knowledge I have of European History, the better I understand U.S. History—which is what I teach at Northwestern.”

The conference, held on the campus of the Eotvos Lorand University, is the 11th annual New Directions in the Humanities Conference, held from June 19-21.

It brought together scholars from more than 30 countries, with almost one-third of the participants being from the United States.

“My session included people from Bulgaria and Great Britain,” said Hardaway, “and I met other university professors from Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, Canada and other countries. It was a truly international conference. It was an honor and a privilege to be able to share some of my research with such a diverse audience in an international setting.”